Ever since I decided to donate all RunTellmanRun funds to homeless youth in America, I’ve been brainstorming ways to solve the problem. Of course there are immediate needs like food, clothing and shelter. But once those basic ingredients are taken care of, what is the next step?
I believe it is education. And life skills. And job training.
I’ve been thinking, “How can I help kids in shelters or in transitional living programs get to the next level in life?” Well, there’s one thing I’m really good at: internet marketing. I know a lot about it, and I know how to teach it.
So last night I decided to offer free lifetime memberships to my company’s flagship education course, the Listbuilding Club, to any and all teens living at shelters or enrolled in transitional living programs in America. The material within can teach young men and women all the skills needed to be a successful businessperson on the internet. I hope it helps.
More details will follow, but if you are a homeless or at-risk teen looking for a head-start in the business world, you’ve come to the right place. If you know a teen who could benefit from my course, please direct them here to runtellmanrun.com.
That’s how I plan to get kids to the next level. So how can you help?
For $100, Covenant House, an international homeless youth outreach organization with shelters all over America, offers a job readiness class to help young men and women prepare a resumé, search for jobs and practice interview skills. Education and preparation are the most valuable assets we can offer homeless teens as they prepare to enter the workforce. Donate $100 right now at http://www.runtellmanrun.com/donate and you could give an at-risk teen a HUGE leg-up in the “real” world. Thanks.
SHABAMBO!
-Tellman
Ambitious kids, like these four we met at The Hub drop-in center in Pittsburgh, are ready to take on the world... it's our job to get them started.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I thought I would do a google search. My results below:
There does seem to be a lot about adopt-a-teen for Christmas.
But what about the rest of the year?
I did come across Freedom Village
http://www.adoptateen.com/
Their Needs list bowled me over as it is telling me that
they are providing activities and potential occupations
for the teens (Wow!):
Maintenance/Autoshop
Horse Program
Livestock
Sporting goods: football,etc
Freedom Adventures: archery, hiking, etc.
Kitchen
Etc.
http://www.freedomvillageusa.com/pages/images/needs%20list.pdf
So to answer your question, Yes and No. Yes, a lot is provided for the
teens, but it appears that the price tag to Adopt a teen is $25 per month.
Sounds good except for some that is a lot as they are barely providing
for their family’s needs and secondly I would hate to start and then say
some months down the road, have to stop due to finances and perhaps
make a teen bitter because of a perceived broken commitment.
So, No, I do not see a program for someone to be mentor of a teen
and as the relationship grows perhaps money would be found
to help the teen, but not on a set-up monthly basis.
Cathy Sutton
that’s a really great idea, Cathy. i wonder if there’s anything like this already in existence?
When I saw the teens together at the Covenant House, I thought about the next level too—relationship-wise. My thoughts were: how can the teens really function as a family at the Covenant house without individual mentors. So…I’m proposing an Adopt-a-Teen program. It can be as simple or as complicated as the adopters want it to be.
I see it working by the teens listing their interests, and goals and dreams and aspirations. Then a counselor would attempt to match a teen with a family from anywhere in the US. Simple–if the family was just making ends meet, they could email and /or chat with the teen and develop a relationship that way. Complicated, if the family had some money they could sponsor the teen in education or interests or hobbies as they saw fit. The main point would be to establish relationships with the teens so that they would see the bigger picture of life and that should help them develop into fine young people.
Well this is a thought-HTH
Cathy Sutton